Monday, January 19, 2009
This Bud's . . . 4 Billion?
More blather about the potential sale and possible pricing for the Busch theme parks, this time from the hoity-toity Financial Times.
Busch Entertainment, the group’s theme park business, which owns SeaWorld Orlando, is expected to be one of the first business units put up for sale with a possible price of up to $4bn.
Potential bidders include Merlin Entertainments, the Blackstone-owned theme park group whose assets include Madame Tussauds and Legoland.
Possible strategic bidders include media group Walt Disney, the world’s biggest operator of theme parks, and Universal Studios, which is majority-owned by the US television and film business, NBC Universal.
Pass the grains of salt, please.
You can make up your own mind, but I can't imagine Disney wanting the parks. As for Universal, I think money would be a major stumbling block. But then, what do I know?
Get the only guide to all the Busch parks in Florida.
Labels: blackstone, busch entertainment, Disney, merlin entertainments
Monday, December 15, 2008
Busch Sale Rumors (Again)
The hits just keep on comin'!
I heard some scuttlebutt from SeaWorld employees that some parks in the portfolio, namely the SeaWorld in Texas and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, had already been sold, at least in principle.
I don't give much credence to that, if only because news that big would be hard to keep under anyone's hat, so we'd have heard about it by now.
Way back in July, Beth Kassab of the Orlando Sentinel did a good job of sorting through the "usual suspects," prime among them Merlin Entertainments of the UK and Parques Reunidos of Spain.
I'd like to propose a dark horse candidate: Nakheel, the developer that is partnering with Busch to recreate the Florida family of theme parks on an artificial, Shamu-shaped island off the coast of Dubai.
Buying Busch's theme parks might make sense for them or other moneyed interests in the United Arab Emirates. It would, after all, prevent another buyer from backing out of the Dubai deal.
But enough wild-eyed speculation. Kassab has this to say:
Good point and one that's too little mentioned as we all wait to see when the first shoe will drop.
I heard some scuttlebutt from SeaWorld employees that some parks in the portfolio, namely the SeaWorld in Texas and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, had already been sold, at least in principle.
I don't give much credence to that, if only because news that big would be hard to keep under anyone's hat, so we'd have heard about it by now.
Way back in July, Beth Kassab of the Orlando Sentinel did a good job of sorting through the "usual suspects," prime among them Merlin Entertainments of the UK and Parques Reunidos of Spain.
I'd like to propose a dark horse candidate: Nakheel, the developer that is partnering with Busch to recreate the Florida family of theme parks on an artificial, Shamu-shaped island off the coast of Dubai.
Buying Busch's theme parks might make sense for them or other moneyed interests in the United Arab Emirates. It would, after all, prevent another buyer from backing out of the Dubai deal.
But enough wild-eyed speculation. Kassab has this to say:
Don't count out the possibility that while InBev considers the theme parks to be secondary to its core brewery business that it eventually decides to hold onto them. Last year Busch Entertainment reported $1.2 billion in sales and $262 million in profit.
After all, it was once widely thought that NBC would shed the Universal parks, but now seems settled on holding on to them.
Good point and one that's too little mentioned as we all wait to see when the first shoe will drop.
Labels: busch entertainment, inbev, seaworld orlando
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Welcome "Worlds of Discovery"
Busch Entertainment is making an attempt to rebrand its family of theme parks as "Worlds of Discovery."
I assume the parks will also retain their "traditional" names, so I'm not sure how much difference this is going to make in public perception. We shall see.
When Aquatica - the waterpark that only SeaWorld could create - joins the Worlds of Discovery parks in spring 2008, it will complement the SeaWorld experience. Along with Discovery Cove, these three parks in Orlando offer unique ways to connect with the world of the sea. The Worlds of Discovery parks also include SeaWorld parks in California and Texas, Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla. and Williamsburg, Va., their adjoining water parks, Adventure Island and Water Country U.S.A., and Sesame Place near Philadelphia.
I assume the parks will also retain their "traditional" names, so I'm not sure how much difference this is going to make in public perception. We shall see.
Labels: busch entertainment, busch gardens tampa, orlando attractions, seaworld
